Was Rita (and Katrina) created, sustained, and directed by God?

This is the question so many are asking as they clear trees from their houses and cut up wet carpet from their bedrooms. Did the loving God of the universe really "order" this catastrophe? The only place to find solid answers to these difficult questions is God's Word.

Listen to Job 37:9-13:
"From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
and cold from the scattering winds.
By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.
He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.
They turn around and around by his guidance,
to accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of the habitable world.
Whether for correction or for his land
or for love, he causes it to happen."

Or, Psalm 135:5-7:
"For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses."

And Psalm 148:7-8:
"Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!"

Or, Amos 3:6:
"Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?"


I will not presume to know "WHY" God created, sustained, and guided Rita in such a way as He did. I only know that there is a reason. God always has good purposes for everything He does (Romans 8:28). Our responsibility is to find our purpose in God's purpose.